1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image forming apparatuses having an image reading unit for reading an original manuscript image or an operating panel for entering operation instructions and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to the installation of an image reading unit or an operating panel in an image forming apparatus in a manner accommodating users with various bodily characteristics, such as different heights or the use of a wheel chair, to provide enhanced user-friendliness.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been a steady increase in barrier-free environments in public facilities, work places, houses, and various other places. The demand for barrier-free access is also felt in not just buildings but also in household appliances and information equipment used in buildings. With the changes in social structure that have been made over the years, including the increasing participation of people with disabilities in society, there is a demand for user interface designs for devices and equipment installed at public facilities or workplaces that are friendly to physically disabled persons.
In the currently available office automation (OA) equipment, such as copy machines, printers, facsimile machines, multifunction peripherals, and other image forming apparatuses, the height of their operating units are designed on the basis of someone of average height, and the height is typically fixed. As a result, some users feel that the operating unit is inconvenient because the unit is located too high or when the user is on a wheel chair, for example.
In order to deal with this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-214731 discloses an image forming apparatus having an elevator unit for lifting or lowering the apparatus main body, so that the height of the image forming apparatus as a whole can be adjusted. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 06-003881 discloses that an operating panel alone can be height-adjusted. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-010394 discloses that both an operating panel and an ejected sheet tray can be height-adjusted.
While these technologies enable the height of the operating panel to be adjusted, it is also necessary, when using an image forming apparatus, to achieve enhanced operability in terms of the height of an original manuscript stage of an image reading unit on which an original manuscript is placed. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-099567 discloses that the image reading unit is separated from the image forming apparatus main body, and a height adjustment mechanism is provided for the image reading unit. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-300872 discloses that the height of both an image reading unit and an operating panel can be adjusted.
Other conventional technologies for making the operating panel easier to use include a tilting mechanism for changing the installed angle of the operating panel.
However, with regard to the aforementioned technology according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-214731, the need to lift or lower the entire image forming apparatus results in an increase in the cost and size of the elevator mechanism, which in turn leads to an increase in the size and cost of the image forming apparatus.
In the conventional technologies according to the rest of the publications mentioned above, although the height adjustment mechanisms enable vertical adjustment, the downward movement is limited. Namely, the operating panel cannot be positioned lower than the total height of sheet cassettes, an image forming unit, and the image reading unit due to the physical configuration of the image forming apparatus. Particularly, it has been difficult for wheel-chair users to make sure that an original manuscript has been correctly placed on the original manuscript stand of the image reading unit, or to operate the operating panel while monitoring information displayed thereon. Thus, a need has been felt for improving the convenience of the operating panel and the image reading unit.